{"id":93588,"date":"2025-12-13T19:50:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-13T19:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/93588\/"},"modified":"2025-12-13T19:50:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-13T19:50:09","slug":"san-diego-county-sheriff-kelly-martinez-applauds-deputys-conviction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/93588\/","title":{"rendered":"San Diego County Sheriff Kelly Martinez applauds deputy’s conviction"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"San<\/a>San Diego County Sheriff Kelly Martinez marches in the annual MLK parade. (FILE photo by Chris Stone\/Times of San Diego)<\/p>\n

San Diego County Sheriff Kelly Martinez is applauding Friday\u2019s verdict by a federal jury convicting a deputy of using excessive force on a man<\/a> in pretrial custody and writing a false report in order to cover up what happened.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors say Jeremiah Manuyag Flores, 45, shoved the 57-year-old victim into the walls of a holding cell last year, causing the man to suffer a head wound and a spinal injury that required surgery and led to months of hospitalization.<\/p>\n

After the shove, Flores failed to provide medical aid to the man, whose hands and legs were in chains at the time, according to prosecutors, who said another deputy found the victim lying in a pool of blood more than two hours later.<\/p>\n

Flores later claimed in a report that \u201cno force was used,\u201d according to the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office. He was placed on administrative leave as soon as the San Diego County Sheriff\u2019s Office learned about the August 2024 incident and is currently suspended without pay.<\/p>\n

A sheriff\u2019s watch commander told City News Service on Saturday that after the criminal case is complete, SDSO Internal Affairs will conduct an investigation before Flores is officially fired, which is expected some time after sentencing.<\/p>\n

Martinez said Friday\u2019s decision sends a clear message to all members of law enforcement that excessive force and lying will not be tolerated.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the sheriff, I will continue working to ensure a culture does not exist where deputies believe this behavior is tolerated,\u201d Martinez said Friday evening. \u201cI hold our value of compassion as core to who we are. There is no excuse for any deputy to use excessive force. Any sheriff\u2019s employee who violates the law or policy will be held accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Sheriff\u2019s Office conducted its own internal investigation, and its findings led investigators to believe criminal actions occurred. The Sheriff\u2019s Office then presented the case to state and federal authorities for prosecution.<\/p>\n

Flores began working with the Sheriff\u2019s Office in November 2021. He became a deputy in February 2023 and was assigned to the Court Services Bureau at the San Diego Central Courthouse at the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday\u2019s (Friday\u2019s) verdict makes one thing unmistakably clear: The badge does not excuse brutality,\u201d U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon said. \u201cWhen an officer abuses power and inflicts harm on someone in their custody, it is a crime, and this office will hold them accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n

The trial was Flores\u2019 second in the case, as a previous San Diego jury deadlocked last month. The U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office said the jury in the second trial deliberated for two hours before finding Flores guilty of two counts, deprivation of rights under color of law and falsification of records in a federal investigation.<\/p>\n

\u201cLaw enforcement officers are not above the law, they uphold it, and will be held accountable for any actions they take not in line with their sworn duty to protect and serve the public,\u201d said Mark Dargis, special agent in charge of the FBI San Diego field office. \u201cToday\u2019s (Friday\u2019s) conviction confirms the FBI and our law enforcement partners will not stand for anyone who tarnishes the badge and reputations of those who lawfully protect our communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Flores is due to be sentenced April 1, 2026.<\/p>\n

\u2013City News Service<\/p>\n

READ NEXT\n\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"San Diego County Sheriff Kelly Martinez marches in the annual MLK parade. (FILE photo by Chris Stone\/Times of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":93589,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[51474,5685,48025,39044,7973,51418,51419,74,51475,76,75,51420],"class_list":["post-93588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-applauds","tag-convicted","tag-conviction","tag-detainee","tag-excessive-force","tag-federal-jury","tag-jeremiah-manuyag-flores","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-county-sheriff-kelly-martinez","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news","tag-san-diego-sheriffs-deputy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93588"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93588\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}